4G to Reach 2.4 Billion People by 2015

4G to Reach 2.4 Billion People by 2015

20th Feb 11:26

By the end of 2015, a third of the population - approximately 2.4 billion people - will be able to access 4G-LTE networks.

In an indication of the scale of the current rollout of 4G networks around the world, mobile industry association, the GMSA, has released data which suggests that at the end of 2014 there were 490m active 4G connections, up from 200m at the end of 2013. The GMSA said there will be 875 million connections, accounting for 12% of global connections by the end 0f 2015.

The chief technology officer of GMSA, Hyunmi Yang said the move to 4G LTE networking was probably one of the fastest network technology migrations ever seen.

She added that the transition showed no signs of slowing, with connections set to grow at more than 30% per year through 2020, at which point 63% of the planet's population will be able to receive a 4G signal.

Yang said: "There is a tipping point we typically see when 4G grows to account for more than 20% of a market that drives adoption of new services.

"This 20% threshold has already been reached in some markets, and is forecast to happen by 2017-18 on a global basis, which will have a huge transformational impact."

According to the GSMA, 4G adoption is closely correlated to coverage, which is dependent on timing, type and amount of spectrum assigned to mobile network operators by various governing bodies, such as Ofcom.